Method of manufacturing block ice and product



Patented Sept. 18, 1934 PATENT. OFFICE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BLOCK ICE AND PRODUCT Crosby Field, Brooklyn,

N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Flakice Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application December 24, 1929, Serial No. 416,295

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of manufacturing ice in block form and ma new and useful product in the ice so produced.

It has hitherto been common practice to manu- 6 facture block ice in cans which are filled or partially filled with water and then subjected to a freezing temperature. By th s method the ice immediately forms on the inner surface of the can and gradually grows toward the center. The 10 time required to freeze a block in this manner varies with the size and dimensions of the can and the temperatures involved, but with cans of 150 to 300 pound capacity of usual proportions at the usual commercial temperatures the required time is about forty to seventy hours. While this period may be shortened by the use of lower tem peratures it has been found in practice that such temperatures are generally not economical or practical.

One of the objects of the present invention is to enable the freezing time of block ice to be materially shortened without resorting to abnormally low temperatures. Another object is to provide block ice which may be readily broken into smaller pieces when such are required. Other objects will be in part evident and in part pointed out hereinafter.

To these ends I employ a mixture of water and fragmentary ice, this mixture being subjected to a freezing temperature for a sufficient time to solidify the mass. The cans or other receptacles in which the block is to be frozen may be substantially filled with the fragmentary ice and then sufficient watenadded to flll the interstices between the fragments. In practice I find that the time required for freezing a large size block by this method will vary from one to four hours depending on the temperature used.

Verysatisfactory fragmentary ice for use in carrying out this process may be rapidly and economically produced by apparatus of the kind disclosed in U. S. Patents Nos. 1,451,901; 1,451,- 902; 1,451,903 and 1,451,904 granted to me. The ice produced by such apparatus is in the form of flakes or small sheets which by their shape, size and nature lend themselves Well to the production of ice in blocks by the process herein described. It will be observed that these flakes are formed on the exterior of a cylinder so that they are arch shaped or cylindrically conchoidal with the inside and outside surfaces having the same center or axis of curvature but different as a piece, at least one side of which has adjacent portions out of rectilinear alignment. When deposited in a mass as described, the flakes tend to assume a substantially horizontal position with one flake superimposed upon another but, due to the difference in radius of the opposing surfaces, there is contact only at the ends and an air space is present between these surfaces. When the water is added to this mass it readily enters and fills these air spaces or interstices and regelation starts almost immediately, particularly where the flakes are somewhat supercooled. Continued freezing forms the mass into a solid block having substantially the shape of the receptacle into which the flakes were deposited.

While the blocks of ice produced in accordance with this method are sufliciently solid to enable them to be conveniently handled, shipped and used in block form, I have found that when smaller pieces are desired, ice blocks made by my method may be more easily and economically broken than ice formed in the usual manner. It is probable that this is due to the retention in the block of at least some of the original cleavage planes of the fragmentary ice or to the creation of cleavage planes between the adjacent fragments.

It will be seen that this invention comprises an art and a product, both of an essentially practical nature in which the several objects referred to are attained.

As the art herein described may be carried out in various ways and as the article may be produced by other methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth is to be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a block of ice formed by subjecting to a freezing temperature a mass of substantially conchoidal fragments of sheet ice in the presence of sufllcient water to fill the interstices therebetween.

2. As an article of manufacture, a block 0 ice formed by solidifying at a freezing temperature a mixture of ice fragments and water, said fragment being substantially cylindrically conchoidal in form.

3. The method of manufacturing block .ice which consists in depositing in a receptacle a mass of ice fragments each of substantially conchoidal shape, adding sufficient water to fill the interstices between the fragments, and subjecting the mixture to a freezinggtemperature.

4. As an article of manufacture a block of ice comprising individual fragments of ice, each fragment comprising a sheet having inside and outside surfaces having the same wis of curvature but different radii, said fragments being bound together by a secondary ice formation,

the original cleavage planes between the fragments and the secondary ice formation being" contours and having adjacent portions out of rectilinear alignment whereby one piece touches adjacent pieces only over limited areas, said pieces being bound together by a secondary ice formation formed in the spaces between said pieces, the original lines of cleavage between said pieces and the secondary ice formation being preserved.

7. A method for .manufacturing ice blocks consisting in the steps of piling thin pieces of ice in a container, each piece having oppositely disposed sides having predetermined contours, and adjacent portions of which are out of rectilinear alignment whereby one piece may contact with adjacent pieces only over limited areas, of adding pre-cooied water to said ice pieces to displace the air in the spaces between said ice pieces with water, and of subjecting the whole to a freezing temperature to freeze the water between the pieces of ice to form a block. of ice permitting of easy fragmentation.

CRCSBY Sill 

